A brand-new sign dedicated to the memory of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been given a new look in Spain.

A 'Don’t Buy The Sun sticker' and a number of Hillsborough Justice Campaign stickers have been used to cover the ‘Plaza de Margaret Thatcher’ sign in Madrid.

The stickers – which were placed over the sign as a protest against The Sun’s support for Mrs Thatcher during the 1980s and against the national newspaper’s coverage over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster – were placed on it a few hours after it was unveiled at an official ceremony on Monday.

Sheila Coleman, Hillsborough Justice Campaign spokeswoman, said: “I think that most of us will be shocked that there is a square in Madrid named after Margaret Thatcher.

“The fact that people have chosen to put stickers about Hillsborough on the name plate, is a comment on those in Madrid who decided to name it after her.

“It shows the loathing of Margaret Thatcher and how people can react when they see her name.

“If the good people of Madrid realised the role that Margaret Thatcher played in the demonisation of the good people of Liverpool then they would understood the feeling towards her.”

The ex-Tory leader is remembered in the Spanish capital alongside sculptures by Pablo Picasso and a statue to Christopher Columbus.

Margaret Thatcher

It is the first city square outside Britain to honour her.

Madrid’s mayor, Ana Botella, explained that Mrs Thathcer was one of “the past century’s most extraordinary figures” and recalled how Mrs Thatcher had survived an IRA bombing in Brighton in 1984.

The idea to name the square after her met with opposition from left-wing opposition parties on Madrid’s city council. But it was revealed that the decision was not primarily political.

Sir Mark Thatcher said: “I know that her history, her honour, will be adequately well defended by the people of Spain, the people of Madrid and in particular, in this wonderful location, which will live for many, many years in the future.”